If you’re still planning retirement the old way, read this
Inside the infrastructure powering the next 401(k) revolution
"Quiet work compounds — even when no one is watching."
That is what I kept reminding myself during Sunday’s sprint triathlon. In spite of a snafu with my tracker, I was genuinely proud of the outcome: 7th in my age group, well beyond what I had expected considering my only goal was to finish in the top half.
The experience taught me something powerful about progress. It rarely announces itself in real time. It is built through discipline, repetition, and systems that work even when you do not see them working.
That mindset carried into this week’s story. In fintech, the companies that endure are not always the loudest. They are the ones building quietly — laying foundations that compound over time.
This week, I explore Percent, and the overlooked infrastructure powering the next generation of retirement investing. Like training, private credit’s rise has been steady and methodical, built on invisible systems of trust, transparency, and technology that are only now coming into view.
👷 Private Credit’s Quiet Reinvention: Building the Infrastructure for Retirement 2.0
Most investors still think of private credit as an obscure, high-risk corner of finance. But behind the scenes, Percent is quietly rewriting the playbook, turning private credit into the infrastructure of a new retirement era.
Over the past few years, Percent has evolved from a niche originator platform into a full-stack marketplace that standardizes how private debt is issued, priced, and monitored. Its real innovation is not yield; it is infrastructure, digitizing every stage of the transaction so investors can access, assess, and manage private credit with institutional-grade visibility.
As Nelson Chu, founder and president of Percent, puts it:
“Private credit shouldn’t be a black box. We’ve built the rails that make this market as transparent and data-driven as any public exchange.”
Here are five takeaways from Percent’s evolution and what they mean for the future of retirement portfolios
1️⃣ Private credit is becoming infrastructure, not an asset class.
Percent is creating the foundational technology that allows private markets to operate with consistency and scale. What once required manual underwriting and bilateral relationships now happens through standardized data models and automated workflows. This shift reframes private credit as a core component of market infrastructure rather than a niche investment product. By abstracting away the operational complexity, Percent is enabling institutions and individuals to treat private credit as a system, not a specialty.
2️⃣ Transparency is the unlock.
Trust is the currency of financial markets, and for decades private credit has lacked it. Percent is changing that dynamic by providing live order books, standardized deal terms, and post-close performance data that investors can monitor in real time. These features give investors a level of visibility once limited to public markets. The more transparency the ecosystem provides, the faster capital can move and the more confidence participants can build.
3️⃣ Retirement products are next.
The $13 trillion U.S. 401(k) market is slowly opening to alternative assets, and the timing could not be better. Percent’s model shortens investment durations, lowers minimums, and provides clear performance data, all of which align with fiduciary standards required for retirement products. If successful, this approach could redefine how workers diversify beyond the traditional 60/40 portfolio. The mutual fund did this for equities, and private credit infrastructure could now do it for the next generation of retirement portfolios.
4️⃣ Global infrastructure is converging.
In Europe, companies such as Exaloan are building similar data rails for banks and asset managers, proving that the demand for transparency is global. These systems are beginning to speak the same language, making it easier for institutions to allocate capital across borders without losing visibility. The convergence of these standards is essential for scaling private markets responsibly. Percent’s model in the U.S. and Exaloan’s in Europe together signal a broader shift toward synchronized, technology-driven transparency.
5️⃣ The technology layer matters most.
Percent’s machine-learning engine analyzes thousands of loans to identify compliance issues, benchmark returns, and flag anomalies before they escalate into losses. This capability is what makes private markets auditable, measurable, and trustworthy. It is not the type of AI that generates headlines, but it is the kind that redefines market integrity. The companies that build this layer will quietly determine how modern portfolios are constructed.
The takeaway is clear. Private markets are no longer an alternative; they are becoming essential. Percent is not selling investment products, it is building the digital infrastructure that could power the next generation of retirement portfolios.
